The HAWK Air Defense Missile System cover
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Description

This is the first history of the legendary US Army's HAWK missile system, the world's first mobile air-defense missile system, which saw service and combat around the world.

Designed to counteract the threat posed by advanced 1950s Soviet-built aircraft, the first HAWK unit became operational in 1959. At its peak, it saw frontline service in the Far East, Panama, Europe, and in the Middle East. Units were also used during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, and Persian Gulf War. In the hands of other nations, HAWK proved its efficacy in combat during the Arab-Israeli Wars, Iran-Iraq War, Chadian-Libyan War, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Credited with shooting down more than 100 aircraft during its combat career, the HAWK system was respected for its lethality. Such was Soviet concern, that the USSR developed electronic jammers, anti-radiation missiles, and other countermeasures specifically to degrade its effectiveness. The US retired its HAWK systems soon after the Cold War ended in 1991 when air defense priorities shifted from aircraft to ballistic missile defense, yet a modernized version of the system remains in service to this day in many nations.

Packed with archive photos and original artwork, this is the first book about the HAWK system. Featuring research from HAWK technical and field manuals, interviews with HAWK veterans, and detailing the authors' personal experiences with HAWK missile units, it provides a comprehensive study of one of the most lethal and effective air missile systems of all time.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
- Basic HAWK – the 1960s
- Self-Propelled HAWK - the early 1970s
- Improved HAWK – the 1970s
- Product Improvement Program – the 1980s
- Post-Cold War – the 1990s
SYSTEM OPERATION
- Unit organization
- Operations
OPERATIONAL HISTORY
- Panama
- Korea
- Okinawa and the Far East
- Florida and the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Vietnam
- Germany and Cold War Europe
- Middle East and the Gulf War
- US-based battalions
LEGACY OF THE HAWK MISSILE SYSTEM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Product details

Published 18 Aug 2022
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 48
ISBN 9781472852212
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations Illustrated throughout with 40 photos and 8pp of colour illustrations
Dimensions 248 x 184 mm
Series New Vanguard
Short code NVG 309
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Marc Romanych

Marc Romanych is a retired US Army combat arms off…

Author

Jacqueline Scott

Jacqueline Scott is a retired US Army officer. As…

Illustrator

Irene Cano Rodríguez

Irene Cano Rodríguez (known as Araire) is a freela…

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